Boston Omaha acquires rural broadband provider AireBeam Communications

Boston Omaha Corporation has acquired AireBeam Communications, a rural broadband fiber and fixed wireless internet service provider, to foray into the telecommunications services business.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Until the acquisition, Boston Omaha, which is a public holding company, has majority-owned businesses engaged in outdoor advertising and surety insurance.

AireBeam Communications has been catering to southern Arizona communities for 17 years by providing high-speed, fixed wireless internet service. The rural broadband provider is also building an all fiber-to-the-home network in certain markets.

Gregory Friedman – Co-Founder and CEO of AireBeam Communications said: “AireBeam, has successfully delivered high speed internet to rural communities while achieving favorable returns on our invested capital. My wife Judith and I and the entire AireBeam team are thrilled to be working with Boston Omaha as they are the right long-term partner to help us expand our fiber-to-the-home footprint.”

Boston Omaha acquires AireBeam Communications. Image courtesy of Adrian Malec from Pixabay.

AireBeam Communications is said to operate in underserved communities across Arizona that require higher speed and greater internet capacity. The rural broadband provider is said to have provided its broadband internet service to over 7,000 customers.

Boston Omaha acquired substantially all of the assets of the predecessor firm in the deal and all employees are likely to be retained.

Gregory Friedman will continue as CEO of AireBeam Communications while keeping a 10% initial ownership stake in the newly formed entity. The remaining 90% initial ownership stake will be owned by a fully owned subsidiary of Boston Omaha, which plans to make significant additional capital investments to fund the planned fiber-to-the-home expansion of the rural broadband provider.

Adam Peterson – Boston Omaha co-CEO said: “Boston Omaha is excited to enter the high speed broadband business as rural communities increasingly demand more bandwidth to their homes and businesses than their current offerings can reliably provide. Within certain markets, we believe that fiber-to-the-home is a long-lived asset that fits perfectly with the long-term vision of Boston Omaha to invest in durable businesses that can earn good after-tax returns on capital.”